The history of the summer blockbuster is essentially one of broken promises, of expectations raised and then dashed – the 90s Godzilla, the Star Wars prequels, The Matrix sequels, this year’s Indy 4. In terms of pre-release hype and expectations there’s been nothing like The Dark Knight since, well, that first Tim Burton Batman in 1989, the summer of the Bat logo.

The hype here though is largely audience generated. People have been waiting for this, willing it to be great, since the Joker card was played just before the end credits of Batman Begins. And The Dark Knight lives up to all expectations. Maybe not your wildest ones, but wild ones you’d never have thought of.

Nolan’s previous Batman Begins was a blueprint for a great film and now he delivers the finished article. One of the main flaws of Begins was weak villains, which is definitely not an issue here. Ledger is indeed a fantastic Joker. He’s no alternative comedian, more an old style vaudevillian, a white faced inversion of Al Jolson.

But really everybody is tremendous in this and the people without costumes – Oldman, Caine, Gyllenhall and Morgan Freeman – are just as impressive. Nolan gets performances that reflect his film making – entirely free of clutter and to the point.

Who’d have thought that the perfect superhero comic book adaptation was one that was absolutely nothing like a superhero comic book? With the first film I couldn’t really see the point of a real world Batman (it seemed to be overcompensating for the camptastrophe of Batman and Robin) but this time it’s even less fantastical. Gotham City is recognisably Chicago and Wayne’s mansion has been replaced by a penthouse and a white, minimalist bat cave. Sacrilege, but it works perfectly. The only gothic architecture here is internalised.

Warner Bros are marketing this like it’s a sure thing but despite the biggest opening day in history in the US this is still a gamble. A big budget, lengthy, realist superhero movie that is relentlessly serious and is too intense for children - such a perverse undertaking might almost be a scheme by the Joker. The hope is that after so much empty spectacles audiences are crying out for a meaty, character driven, contemporary story with weight and depth.